Door operator



F. W. HALL DOOR OPERATOR I May 2, 1939,.

Filed June 10, 1938 '2 Sheets-Sheet 1 :mamma 'May 2, 1939. f F. w. HALL 2,156,473'

DOOR OPERATOR Filed June 10, 1938 2 sheets-sheet 2 IEE- INVENTJR ZZ Patented May 2, 1939 DooR OPERATOR Frederick William Hall, London, Ontario, Canada,

assignor to Richards-Wilcox pany, Limited, London,

Canadian Com- Ontario, Canada v Application June 10, 1938, Serial No. 212,957 In Canada May 23, 1938 i 5 oiaims.

This invention relatesto what are commonly known as canopy doors, that is doors which are pivoted adjacent the top of a, door opening and swing from a vertical closed position to a horizontal open position. Such doors are made sometimes in one piece and sometimes are formed with a lower section slidable up and down on the upper part of the door. In Canadian Patent 358,016 such a door lis disclosed. In that invention my object was to devise simple means for Operating the door which would possess the following characteristics among others:

1. Fast action in opening and closing.

` 2. A graduated speed both in opening and closing, increasing from zero to a maximum and then decreasing again to zero.

3. Would aet as a counterbalance producing an effect which increases as the door swings to the open position.

I`attained my object by means of the constructions which were briefly described as -follows.

The upper part of the door structure above the axis of its pivots had a crank shaft journalled thereon provided With crank arms pivotally connected to the upper ends of links which at their lower ends were pivoted on the superstructure of the doorway. The crank shaft was driven by gearing driven by an electric motor, these parts being positioned above the aforesaid axis so that the Operating mechanism served as a counterbalance for the door as a whole. i

The lower section of the door was actuated by chains secured at their lower ends to said section, which chains passed over sheaves on the upper part of the door, thence under sprocket Wheels secured to a shaft journalled on the superstructure, thence round suitable guide 'sheaves on the building to counterweightswhich were nearly equal to the weight of the lower door section. An electric motor carried by the superstructure drove the shaft aforesaid, which drove the sprockets and thus the chains to raise the lower door section. The reverse movement was by gravity controlledby the motor. It is found, however, that in modern hangar construction it is sometimes difficult and always inconvenient to .find a suitable location for counterweights hanging on the walls, and the swaying of counterweight cables travelling through the superstructure of the buildingis objectionable.

My'object in the present invention is to overcome these objections and this is effected by the constructions which may be briefly described as follows:

On the upper part of the pivoted part of the door structure I mount a hoisting unit which actuates a shaft carrying sprocket wheels which actuate chains which pass round pulleys mounted at the lower endr of the upper part of ,the door 5 r and both ends of which chains lare secured to the lower part of the door so that by Operating the shaft with its sprocket Wheels the lower part of the door may be raised and lowered as rem quired. V

The invention is herelnafter more fully de-` scribed and is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is an inside elevation of the door and part of the doorway superstructure, with the door ,5

closed;

Flg. 2 a/-side elevation of the same,'partiy broken away; and

Fig. 3 a similar view with the door in the open vided with rollers 5 adapted to run in the side channels of the door beams l 'which form the back bone of the upper part of the door. At the upper part of the upper part of the door are secured the door pivots which are suitably journalled in the superstructure i. The upper part of the door extends above the axis of the pivots 6 and is formed of a frame'l of structural metal.- The exposed portions of the door parts may be either solidly panelled, but are preferably partly panelled and partly glazed as indicated in Pig. 1.

Journalled near the top of the upper part 1 of the door is a crank shaft which is provided position. 20

with the crank arms The ends of these cranks '40 are pivotally connected to the upper ends of links W, the lower ends of which are pivoted on the superstructure as shown. When the door is substantially Vertical the crank and Vlinks-will be in 4substantial alinement as shown in Fig. 2.' By 45 From this construction it follows that the 5 swinging movement of the door eitherto or from the closed position is at first slow, the Vrate of movement increasing until the links and crank arms are substantially at right angles to one another, after which the speed of movement gradually decreases until the final position is reached.

The shaft 8 is driven by spur gearing I 3 from the gear ratio reduction unit |2 which, in turn, is driven by the motor II. A11 the gearing and the motor, it will be noted, are carried by the upper part of the door itself, thus these parts have a very important function in counterbalancing the door. It will be noted that the position of these parts makes their weight as a counterbalance effective in proportion to the requirements of the varying positions of the door; that is the weight is most effective when it is most required, namely, when the door is fully opened, and the effect of this weight dies away as the door comes into the Vertical position where such counterbalance is not required. v

The lower part of the door is operable by means of a hoisting unit carried by the superstructure 'I of the upper part of the door. On the super- 'structure is mounted a motor 20 which, through the medium of a reducing gear 2|, operates the shaft |9 journalled on the superstructure. The m'otor and reducing gear are shown only diagrammatically and any known constructions may be used for this purpose.

The shaft |9 carries at. each end a sprocket wheel |8 adapted to drive the chains |4. Each chain H at its lower end passes round an idler 15 `iournalled on the upper part of the door. The ends of the chain are connected respectively to the lug I'l and to the threaded bolt IB which passes through a lug on the lower door 'frame` and is set up by a nut so that any slack may be taken up as necessary.

From this description it will be seen that no counterbalancing weights are needed and that the lower or sliding door part is operated entirely from the upper or pivoted door part. The Operating means for the chains |4 thus assist in the counterbalancing of the weight of the door parts when swung to the position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. All the objections to the use of counterbalancing weights are also overcome.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a swinging door structure, the combination of a doorway superstructure; a door pivoted thereon to swing on a horizontal axis; a lower door section slidably mounted to move up and down on the pivoted door part; a chain connected at opposite ends to the slidable door section; pulleys on the pivoted door part about which the chain passes; and a hoisting unit including a prime mover mounted on and completely supported by the pivoted door part and adapted to drive one of the pulleys to actuate the chain to move the slidable door section, the said unit serving as a counterbalance for the door structure.

2. In a swinging door structure, the combination of a doorway superstructure; a door pivoted thereon to swing on a horizontal axis, part of the door extending above the axis; a lower door section slidably mounted to move up and down on the pivoted door part; a chain connected at opposite ends to the slidable door section; pulleys on the pivoted door part about which the chain passes; and a hoisting unit including a prime mover mounted on and completely supported by the pivoted door part above its axis and adapted to drive one of the pulleys to actuate the chain to move the slidable door section, the said unit serving as a counterbalance for the door structure.

3. In a swinging door structure, the combination of a doorway superstructure; a door pivoted thereon to swing on a horizontal 'axis, part of the door extending above the axis; door actuating mechanism connected with the door and the superstructure including a prime mover mounted on and completely supported by the door; driving means for the actuating mechanism carried by the door above the said axis; a lower door section slidably mounted to move up and down on the pivoted door part; a chain connected at opposite ends to the slidable door section; pulleys on the -pivoted door part about which the chain passes;` and a hoisting unit including a prime mover mounted on the pivoted door part above its axis and adapted to drive one of the pulleys to actuate the' chain to move the slidable door section, the said unit serving as a counterbalance for the door structure.

4. In a swinging door structure, the combination of a doorway superstructure; a door pivoted thereon to swing on a horizontal axis; a lower door section slidably mounted to move up and down on the pivoted door part; means connected to.the said pivoted door part and lower door section for sliding the latter up and down; and a hoisting unit, including a prime mover mounted on and completely supported by the pivoted door part to actuate the means for sliding the lower door section up and down, the said unit serving as a counterbalance for the door structure.

5. In a swinging door structure, the combination of a doorway superstructure; a door pivoted thereon to swing on a horizontal axis, part of the door extending above the'axis; door actuating mechanism connected with the door above the axis and with the superstructure including a prime mover mounted on and completely sup- .ported by the door; driving means for the actuating mechanism carried by the door above the said axis; a lower door section slidably mounted to move up and down on the pivoted door part; and means connected to the door part and door section for sliding the latter up and down; a hoisting unit and a prime mover mounted on and completely supported by the pivoted section above its axis to actuate the means for sliding the lower door section up and down, the door actuating mechanism and hoisting unit actlng as counterbalances for the door.

FREDERICK WILLIAM HALL. 

